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Ryan
Introduces Line-Item Veto Legislation to Combat Wasteful Spending
WASHINGTON
– U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (R.-Wis.) today introduced the Legislative Line-Item Veto
Act, H.R. 4890 – legislation that would give the President the authority to pinpoint unnecessary or wasteful spending provisions in bills that have passed Congress and send these specific line items back to Congress for a timely up-or-down vote. Similarly, under this legislation, the President would also be able to single out and request the rescission of special-interest tax breaks that apply to small numbers of individuals. Ryan worked with the White House to craft this measure, which tracks with the President’s recent request for line-item veto legislation.
Ryan was joined by 47 original cosponsors in introducing this legislation that would make it easier to combat wasteful pork-barrel spending and unjustified earmarks, while boosting accountability for lawmakers’ spending proposals. This bill preserves Congress’ power of the purse under the Constitution by requiring the House and Senate to vote on the President’s proposed rescissions, (unlike an earlier line-item veto law that was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998.)
“This legislative line-item veto passes constitutional muster and serves as a powerful tool to target questionable earmarks and give Congress the chance to judge them on their own merits, rather than as part of a larger spending bill,” Ryan said.
“The time is ripe for this reform to rein in wasteful spending, particularly now that the public has seen how earmarks and the current spending process can be abused by those who are corrupt. We must clean up the budget and spending system and make Washington more accountable for the tax dollars it spends. The line-item veto will help us do away with wasteful pork-barrel spending and reduce the deficit,” Ryan said.
Among its provisions, the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act would:
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Give the President the authority to propose the elimination of wasteful spending items in appropriations bills that have passed Congress or in new mandatory spending or special-interest tax breaks given to small numbers of individuals (under 100 beneficiaries). The President would send proposed line-item rescissions to Congress.
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Put the President’s rescission requests on a fast track for consideration in Congress. House and Senate leadership would have the opportunity to introduce the President’s rescission requests within two days following receipt of the President’s message. After that time period, any Member of Congress may introduce the President’s rescission proposal. Once introduced, the rescission bill would be referred to the appropriate committee, which would have five days to report the bill without substantive revision. Failure to meet the specified deadline would result in the bill being automatically discharged and placed on the appropriate calendar for action.
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Respect and preserve Congress’ constitutional power of the purse, as each proposed rescission would require an up-or-down vote in the full House and Senate within 10 days (days during which Congress is in session) of the rescission bill’s introduction. No amendments to the proposed rescissions would be allowed.
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Enable the President to submit as many rescission proposals as are necessary to combat wasteful spending within a given year.
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Permit the President to decline to spend the relevant funds for up to 180 days, to ensure adequate time for Congress to act on his rescission proposals.
Ryan has been working for years with colleagues in Congress to reform the budget and spending process to instill fiscal discipline and improve accountability. The
Legislative Line-Item Veto Act is similar to Ryan’s enhanced rescission amendment to H.R. 4663, which garnered 174 “yes” votes when the House of Representatives voted on it in June of 2004. A similar enhanced rescission proposal is also part of H.R. 2290, the
Family Budget Protection Act – comprehensive reform legislation co-authored by Ryan to fix the budget and spending process in Washington.
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Contact: Kate
Matus (202) 226-7326
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